Parks

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We had a great meeting this week with representatives from the National Capital Commission, City of Ottawa, Dovercourt Recreation Association, Champlain Park Community Association, and my office to hammer out some details about bringing the popular SJAM Winter Trail to the doorstep of the Champlain Park Field House. It means skiers, walkers, snowshoers and fat-bikers will be able to use the washrooms and change facilities during the hours when the park rink is in operation - generally weeknights and weekend afternoons. It's great news.

Dave Adams, who for the most part grooms the trail, has been able to thread the needle on a path that won't interfere with the rink, working with the community association and rink operator.

The grooming is possible since the portion of Pontiac between Cowley and Carleton was recently (finally) closed to car traffic a couple of months ago - something that I was very pleased to be able to accomplish.

Last Tuesday night, residents, the Champlain Park Community Association and I met at the field house to discuss the potential to close the stretch of Pontiac between Cowley and Carleton. It was a very well-attended meeting with dozens of residents, and I appreciated the respectful and productive discussion. I’ll take this opportunity to provide an update on what I’m thinking, and some follow-up steps I’ve taken.

I’m continuing to receive emails, supportive and not, about the proposal. Opinion is split on the advisability of proceeding. I’m getting a sense now that there is fairly broad support for joining the City park to the NCC park by extending the greenspace contiguously from the field house to the Parkway. It’s a lot of real estate that could eventually be de-paved, providing more room for play, exploration of the scrub and forest, room for gardens and planting, and uninterrupted access to the park from the winter and summer paths. While still paved, it could be a very attractive place to play road hockey and basketball, learn to bike, and more.

As part of its Older Adult Plan, the City has funding available for improvements to local parks, and McCormick has been chosen to begin that process. City staff have been assessing the park in light of its older adult lens, and has some interesting improvements to propose such as: